Bangladesh in favour of giving India transshipment
Bangladesh in favour of giving India transshipment
Bangladesh is in favour of allowing transshipment facility to India with a view to broadening regional trade connectivity, said Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed today.
If transshipment is allowed, Indian transports will unload the goods to the Bangladeshi bordering areas and the local transports will carry those goods to other parts of India and particularly to the north-eastern states of India, Tofail said.
“During the previous tenure as the commerce minister, especially in 1998, I started the talks with India for the transshipment, but the process was stalled for some reasons,” he said.
Without further elaboration on transshipment, the minister also said transit, transhipment and connectivity are not the same things.
The minister was answering the queries of journalists after a meeting with Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Pankaj Saran at the latter’s office in Bangladesh Secretariat.
Regarding withdrawal of a ban on export of hilsa fish from Bangladesh to India, Tofail said India has requested the government for several times, but it is yet to be decided. “We did not decide yet regarding export of hilsa to India,” he said.
Tofail also said another regional cooperation -- Bangladesh, India, China and Myanmar (BCIM) -- is at the final stage for further increase of regional trade. The concept of BCIM will connect major areas of the Asian countries.